


Love and Lose | Hosie

by Mystique1250



Category: Legacies (TV 2018), The Originals (TV), The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Dark Magic, F/F, Fear, Hurt/Comfort, Magic, Nightmares, Trust Issues, Witchcraft, Witches
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2020-03-20
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:20:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply, Underage
Chapters: 15
Words: 13,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21922066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mystique1250/pseuds/Mystique1250
Summary: Someone sends Josie, with the help of black magic, nightmares and tries to get her to do something for him. Helplessly she turns to Hope, who wants to help her find out who is behind it. Can they find out about it together? And what does the person want from the young siphoner?
Relationships: Hope Mikaelson/Josie Saltzman, Josie Saltzman & Lizzie Saltzman
Comments: 13
Kudos: 157





	1. Cast

**Josie Saltzman is plagued by nightmares.** Again and again an unknown power seems to call her and the more often it happens, the more helpless she becomes. She doesn't want to have to answer her father's questions, but at the same time she doesn't want to tell her twin sister about it. But one thing is clear to her: Something is not going right and someone is using black magic to sneak into her dreams. 

When Hope is caught using black magic on the school grounds, Josie thinks that maybe she is the one torturing her and decides to keep an eye on her. However, the youngest Mikaelson quickly realizes that she is being watched and passes Josie off in a quiet moment to ask her what this is all about. She tells Hope what is troubling Josie and assures her that she has nothing to do with it. To prove this, she offers her help to the Saltzman twin. Can they find out together who is terrorizing Josie? 

**Josie Saltzman**   
_(Kaylee Bryant.)_

__

**Hope Mikaelson** _  
(Danielle Rose Russell.)_

**Lizzie Saltzman** _  
(Jenny Boyd.)_

__

**Claire Rodriguez**   
_(Madison Beer.)_


	2. Chapter 1

**Josie opened her eyes abruptly, but the only thing she saw was blackness.** The scream she had unconsciously uttered before she had awoken from her dream still lingered in her ears. But although it was dark around her, she was not afraid of it, for it was far less frightening than the dream from which she had struggled to free herself.

It took a few seconds before she realized that she was back in her room on the grounds of the Salvatore Boarding School. She took a deep breath while waiting for her eyes to get used to the darkness. Her clothes stuck to her body and beads of sweat were beaming from her forehead.

As her breathing slowly calmed, she turned her head slightly to the side where there was a second bed, which she knew was her twin. But even though she knew that she stretched her neck slightly to catch a glimpse of the blonde between the pillows and blankets. The knowledge that Lizzie was here gave Josie a feeling of security and made her tense bones loosen immediately.

After a few seconds of just lying there listening to Lizzie's calm breathing, the brunette leaned on her elbows. Why did this happen again and again lately? Why did nightmares repeatedly disturb her otherwise calm sleep?

In the past, she had always slept well and woke up well in the morning. At the moment, however, the exact opposite became apparent. You almost had the feeling that someone had a hand in it. But this thought was nonsense and the girl knew that too. Why would someone do that too? And she also thought of a reason why someone should do that? After all, she hadn't made any enemies at school so far. Or at least she couldn't think of any at that moment. So what interest could anyone have in her sleeping badly?

Knowing that she couldn't possibly fall asleep again now - and if she was honest, she didn't want to - she pushed her blanket aside, suppressing a sigh, and then slowly rose from her bed. Now she would have to find something to occupy herself with. For although she didn't like it, a cold shiver ran down her spine and she felt how everything in her was cramping up.

Slowly she shuffled to her desk chair over whose back she had hung a thin, light blue cardigan the previous evening, which would be enough for this moment. Quickly she put it on before putting on her socks.

Then she let her eyes wander across the desk. Maybe this was the perfect moment to work on her attack spells. After all, things had still gone wrong the last time. But her spells had to be perfect if she wanted to convince her father that attack spells should be taught at her school as well. Otherwise, they would never be able to defend themselves properly.

As soon as she spotted her pad, she reached for it and grabbed a pen before quietly and secretly making her way to the door. She could not possibly stay here if she did not want to wake Lizzie. Slowly she opened the door and scurried out into the hall.

Luckily, the corridor was empty - but how could it be any different at this time of day. To be honest, I didn't feel like explaining to anyone why she was awake at this time of night and sneaked out of her room.

After a few steps, I arrived at the stairs and slowly descended the steps, hoping not to make any noise. So it took me a little longer to get to the bottom of the stairs, but finally, she had reached the lowest floor and made her way to the lounge.

In the room she let herself sink onto one of the two comfortable sofas and pulled her feet up onto the seat as well. Almost reflexively, her gaze wandered to the fireplace, which almost automatically caught her eye as she entered the room. Without thinking about it for long, her hand wandered to the necklace she wore around her neck and her fingers snapped around the small pendant, which, however, contained more magic than one might think.

"Incendia", she whispered as she reached out her hand towards the fireplace. No sooner had her voice faded away again, than a small flame suddenly began to flare up between the woods, growing in size with every second until a stately flame was burning beside her in the fireplace.

With a satisfied expression on her face, she leaned against the back of the sofa and began to skim with her eyes over the already written words. By doing so she forgot for a moment what she had brought back here. Only when she heard a noise from the side, she flinched slightly and was brought back to reality. Suspiciously she let her gaze wander through the empty room. When she saw no one, she tried to direct her gaze back to her block and concentrate again. But she had noticeably sunk down and felt an icy shiver run down her spine.

Even if she didn't want to admit it, she knew inside herself that these nightmares were eating away at her nerves. So it was time for her to do something. Although she had no idea how to do it. She could not talk to Lizzie. Lizzie wouldn't take her seriously anyway. After all, she already had her problems and I didn't need to burden her with my own. And I couldn't say anything to Dad. He would only worry too much again and wouldn't let me out of his sight until he had found a solution. I didn't need that. So I guess it was up to me to figure out what was going on and solve the problem.


	3. Chapter 2

Again and again, Josie closed her eyes at breakfast. As Lizzie was just telling her something, the brunette had turned her head to the side, hoping that her twin sister didn't notice that she was only partially listening to her. She also kept nodding in some places to avoid possible questions from her sister. Even if it didn't feel that way in the beginning, she was now missing the lost sleep. However, she didn't like the thought of falling asleep when there was a chance that another nightmare might be waiting for her. So she simply had no choice but to try to stay awake.

"I thought that it was only my perception that I find you boring", a voice sounded in that moment that Josie knew only too well: "But if you manage to almost put your sister to sleep with your jabbering, that's probably confirmation that it's all up to you."

Penelope Park leaned demonstratively on the tabletop, looking back and forth between the twins. When the voice of her ex had sounded, Josie had abruptly raised her head and gave her a look that was a mixture of anger and the request not to betray her. Why did her ex-girlfriend still have it in for her twin sister? Even after they were separated. Although she knew herself that Lizzie and Penelope had never really liked each other, she had never really known the reason why.

"What are you talking about, Satan?", Lizzie asked in a derogatory tone and looked out of the corner of her eye at Josie before looking at Penelope.

"About your sister not listening to your self-involved bullshit. But who could, 24 hours a day. After all, the only thing you think about is you", the dark-haired woman replied with a shrug of the shoulders before she looked at Josie: "Right, Jojo?"

Inside Josie, everything contracted and she tensed up slightly. Why had Penelope only had to join them at that moment?! Because Lizzie would never have noticed on her own that she only listened to their stories in passing. But if she was honest, somehow 'Satan' was right. Lizzie often talked only about herself, and she barely noticed when Josie herself had something on her mind.

But Penelope would not let her triumph over being right. She had already tried far too often to break up the sisters and hurt Lizzie's feelings knowingly. And Josie, too, had finally betrayed her. So it was hard for her to believe that the teenager had something good in mind at that moment.

For a moment she looked over at Lizzie and automatically she started to grind her jaws slightly. But then he looked back at Penelope and when their eyes met, Penelope winked at her while the corners of her mouth lifted slightly. Penelope had always had her charms, but at that moment it was not hard for her to resist.

"No, you're wrong, Penelope", she replied with a firm look and her tone became harsh: "And maybe it would be better if you stayed out of my affairs. After all, we're not together anymore."

For some time, she had been bothered by Penelope talking about her sister and having to keep provoking the twins. But something had kept her from saying it ever since they separated.

"Whatever you say, Jojo", Penelope replied surprisingly relaxed and with a broad smile on her lips before turning to Lizzie: "See you, ladies."

With these words, she released her hands from the table on which she had leaned and then moved away from us, towards her usual place in the dining room.

As soon as Penelope took a few steps away from them, Lizzie gave a slight sigh.

"We're rid of her at last", she muttered as she began to eat her breakfast. In reply, however, her sister only gave her a nod, as something else suddenly caught her attention at that moment.

When Josie passed the blonde, she saw Hope Mikaelson standing in the entrance to the big room, her eyes wandering over the other students. She had often noticed that the Tribrid seemed to be more of a loner. For a moment her eyes met and she thought she noticed a little smile on Hope's lips, which she could not quite interpret.

"What are you looking at - ?", Lizzie asked a question as she turned around to see what was attracting her sister's attention. But before she had uttered her last word, an unsatisfied sound elicited from her: "Oh, God, please don't."

The brunette immediately averted her gaze from the girl and looked back at her sister instead.

"If she comes here now, I'm going to explode", it was clear in her voice that she was not at all pleased.

"Don't worry, she won't",she replied quickly to avoid further trouble: "She can't stand us any more than we like her."


	4. Chapter 3

Looking straight ahead, Josie stared at the blackboard where her teacher was walking up and down teaching his students, wildly waving his hands. For although she looked as if she was paying attention and concentrating, not a word of what the man was trying to teach them found its way into her brain. Her attention was simply too focused on the students around her.

Since this was a lesson only meant for witches, it was the perfect moment to see if anyone was acting suspiciously. For although she told herself it was complete nonsense, the thought that someone might be behind her bad dreams had been nesting in the back of her head since she first thought it right.

So Josie couldn't help but direct all her senses towards the other witches and sorcerers around her, although it probably wouldn't do her any good anyway. At least she assumed that no one would be that stupid to use any, maybe not quite so stupid, spells in class and does any other flashy things.

But just when she thought about the magic that wasn't allowed in our school, she got an idea. Maybe she was able to use it in some way. Even if her father didn't like it. But he didn't necessarily have to know about it. She could tell him about her sleeping problems, which was not the case anyway. After all, her father would only worry unnecessarily, but he couldn't help her anyway. So she had to go through it alone and find her way.

But before Josie could continue her thought, she suddenly felt something warm around her nose. But before her fingers could move to that spot, she noticed something dripping from her lip and landing on the tabletop. Automatically she frowned and saw a small drop of blood, to which another one was added within seconds.

"Damn," Josie hissed, but so softly that no one could hear it. Nosebleeds were not something she could use at this moment. Instinctively, she covered her nose with her hand, while suddenly an unpleasant pain spread right there.

"Excuse me, Professor", Josie raised her voice and stood up from her chair: "Can I please go to the bathroom?"   
"Certainly, Miss Saltzman", the teacher replied, although he did not seem to fully understand what was going on. Without thinking about it for long, she walked along between the rows of tables of her classmates, towards the door.

When she reached the corridor, Josie's legs led her almost automatically in the right direction and after a few steps, she arrived at the girls' toilet. There she pushed the door open firmly and went straight to the sink, where she let go of her nose. Immediately the single drops of blood began to drip into the sink one after the other and a painful pulling went through her nose.

"Man, why now?", she moaned and reached out for one of the paper dispensers to start wiping the blood from her face. Normally, Josie was never someone who got nosebleeds easily, but late enough things seemed to be happening anyway that were normally not so.

Whenever she thought about a nosebleed, a certain thought inevitably forced itself upon her. Because once that happened, it was usually magical. In itself, it was always connected with overuse of magic or dark magic, if a witch was once attached to strong nosebleeds. But since it hadn't been Josie herself - after all, she had just been sitting in the classroom - who had used magic lately, this must either be the fault of a witch or just a stupid coincidence. But to believe in coincidences could be difficult when you knew that magic existed in the world?


	5. Chapter 4

The gravel crunched under Josie's sneakers and her breathing went shallow as she made the third lap around the lake. With all her strength she tried to concentrate on the nature around her and breathe in as much of the fresh air as she could. However, her mind was still on the things that had happened to me that day. As far as that was concerned, jogging had not helped me to clear my head.

So after a few minutes, she came to a halt, panting and resting her hands on her thighs. That did not help either. What should they do to clear her head? And this even though she needed it. Now I guess she had to find another way, one that wasn't magical if at all possible. After all, magic couldn't always be the solution if she had a problem that maybe had nothing to do with magic. All the normal solutions that Mom had taught Lizzie and that I had learned in the process had not been able to help me either.

If Mom's practices couldn't help her, maybe Dad could, but she couldn't ask him. Otherwise, he'd just go crazy again. So her only chance was to ask around back and not show it. But she didn't know how to do that.

Anyway, the jogging didn't help. So she slowly made her way back to school. After she had taken a few steps, however, she heard the ringing of her mobile phone in her jacket pocket.

With a wrinkled forehead, she pulled it out and looked at the number that was flashing on the display. Dad? Why was he calling her? After all, she hadn't even left the school grounds. Couldn't he just wait until she got back? But to find out what he wanted, she had to go ahead and ask him herself.

"Dad?", she asked, so as soon as she answered the call: "What's up?"   
"Maybe you can go into my office?", her father's voice sounded at the other end.   
"Why, Dad?", She kept going: "Aren't you at the office right now?"  
"No, I'm in the city with Dorian", he told his daughter, and then returned to the subject of why he had called in the first place.

"All right", she sighed. She didn't have any other choice anyway, and helping her dad was never a bad idea: "What do you want me to get for you?"   
"Rather less something for me and more something for Hope", he added, knowing full well that this was an issue Josie would not be happy about. After all, the twins didn't get along very well with the Mikaelson daughter, probably because for some reason she spent more time with her than with his daughters.

"Hope", Josie repeats, but to her surprise, she doesn't sound angry about it. Maybe because she knew it would just get another lecture from her dad. That they should start to get along with Hope and that she should be a little helpful.   
"All right, I'll do it", she muttered, trying to hold back a sigh.

"Hope said she left a notebook in my office", he told her, and before she was supposed to say anything else, he had told her that he had to hang up now before he said goodbye and hung up. With this, he did not give her the chance to contradict and left her alone with the task.

Sighing she let the mobile phone disappear into her bag again and walked a little faster as the school was already in sight. Why couldn't her father just ask Lizzie? After all, as far as she knew, she was somewhere at school and therefore much closer than Josie. Maybe it was true what Lizzie said. Maybe her father trusted her more than her twin sister. But even so. Hope was the one he preferred to both of them. At least it always felt that way when he couldn't come to one of her football games because he did something with Hope that he didn't even tell them about.


	6. Chapter 5

Arriving at the door from her father's office, Josie pushed down the doorknob and entered the light-filled room. To her surprise, it was empty, as her father had said. What he was doing back in the city he had not been able to tell her. Of course, Hope would probably know again.

When she noticed how her thoughts strayed to Hope, she quickly shook her head and tried to concentrate on her task again. After all, she was only there to get Hope's notebook. Although she wondered why Hope didn't go and get it herself. Or was it because her father had again kept it from her that Hope was out with him and Dorian. Probably chasing some monster that everyone else was not supposed to know about. After all, it had already happened the last time.

She walked straight up to her father's long desk and started to search the documents lying on the tabletop for a notebook. Instead, however, she only got to see a few papers that she couldn't assign and a slightly open file. Whereby the latter attracted her attention a bit. He only left files lying around when they belonged to a new student. The other students' files he had stowed away somewhere safe where nobody, except him, had access to them.

It wouldn't harm anyone if she took a look inside. And her father would never find out about it anyway if she didn't tell him, and she certainly wouldn't. There were things even he didn't need to know about. Even if he was the principal of the school.

So she allowed herself a slightly longer look at the first page and saw the picture of a girl with long light brown hair in the uniform of our school. Automatically my eyes moved on to the name of the girl whose picture she had just seen. Claire Rodriguez. Based on her name, she concluded that she couldn't be from Mystic Falls. After all, she knew most people in town her age and neither that last name nor that face looked familiar to her in any way.

However, before she read further, she closed the file again and took a step away from the table. It was wrong just to read about someone. It was private and therefore wrong. After all, she wouldn't want someone to just snoop around in her things. She was just here to look for Hope's things and then disappear again.

So she started to open the drawers of the desk, hoping to find something there. Eventually, her dad might have put it there so it wouldn't get lost. But when she opened the first drawer, she saw something that made her heart heavy. Inside were countless bottles, of which she could say without a doubt that they had been filled with alcohol before. At least until he had drunk them up. After she had overcome the first shock, worries began to spread in her. When had her father started drinking again?

She quickly closed the drawer again and opened the next one to have a look inside. And indeed, her suspicion was not wrong. Inside was a notebook, which she immediately thought must be Hopes. But to be sure, she took it out and looked at the first page. This was decorated with a surprisingly good pencil drawing, which told her that it was indeed Hope's book. She didn't think my dad was capable of that, which was somehow less so. Otherwise, his daughters would have had to inherit at least some of the talent she saw on the paper. After all, they had had enough of their biological mother's strange family.

Now that she had what she needed, she closed the drawer again and straightened up. Now all she had to do was find Hope and her job would be done. After that, she could finally stop playing the errand boy and devote herself to solving her problems. If she was honest with herself, the current situation was stressful for her.

But just as she was approaching the door and wanted to leave the room, she felt something fall out of the book in her hand. With a wrinkled forehead, she stopped and looked down at the floor. There was something there that looked like a loose page from Hope's book. But the paper seemed to be much more yellowed and older.

Josie bent down to pick up the sheet and just wanted to put it back between the pages. Something stopped her, though, and as if something was guiding her, she started to unfold the paper in her hands, even though she knew it was quite wrong.

What she opened up to her, however, quickly made this feeling disappear and she started to fly over the writing on the page with her eyes instead. The further she read, the stronger the dizziness became, which suddenly spread in her. She had seen something like this before.

It was black magic. An extremely dangerous kind of magic, a kind that was forbidden at this school and exactly the kind that had possibly terrorized her for days now. And the spell was Hope's. A person that Josie somehow thought she could trust. After all, Hope and her father spent a lot of time together and he would still notice when she used black magic on her strange trips.

But maybe this girl was exactly the person who used black magic to interfere with her dreams and who never let go of them. And if Josie had a chance to end this, she had to take it before she went crazy.


	7. Chapter 6

Josie hesitantly stopped in front of the door and took a deep breath. But then she raised one of her hands and knocked lightly against the wood. Contrary to her expectations nobody opened the door. So probably Hope was out with Josie's father again, chasing some monsters or whatever they did when they jumped into her father's jeep and disappeared. After all, he never told his children anything about what he needed Hope for and what they did when they disappeared all day long.

But since she had already left and gotten Hope's notebook, it was too stupid for her to bring it back to the office, but she didn't want to keep it either. Therefore she decided within a few seconds that she would just go to her room and put the book there. Her eyes wandered up and down the hallway to see that it was empty apart from her. To be honest, she didn't feel like answering questions from other students about why she simply entered a strange room when the resident wasn't there. Especially since Penelope Park seemed to have a talent for showing up at those exact moments and getting her into trouble.

Josie quickly drove her ex out of her head and opened Hope's room door before she slipped into the room. A bright light came through the large window and fell on Hope's bed and desk. Although she had only planned to stay in the strange room for a short time, she took a moment to let a glance wander around. The layout was just like her room, except that there was only one bed in it.

After a few seconds, she took a few steps towards the desk and put the notebook on top of it. The anger and disappointment they had overcome when she found the notebook between the pages of the notebook. Yet she had intended to speak to the Mikael account daughter about it. After all, she seemed to be practicing black magic, and if there was a supernatural reason for her nightmares, it had to be exactly that kind of magic. But why hadn't she considered Hope before? After all, she was the daughter of the world-famous and formerly feared Hope Mikaelson. There was no way she wasn't at least partly like him.

But maybe it was not a bad idea not to approach her immediately, but to wait and watch her. That way Josie might catch the Tribrid when she used black magic again, and thus confront her at a moment when she could no longer deny it. Without her having planned it or wanting it at that moment, Josie opened the notebook that lay in front of her again and flipped through it. Where had she put the paper with the saying on it? After a few seconds of searching between the pages and looking at the drawing, she found it and pulled out the spell with the skull drawn in black ink. Without thinking about it any further, she quickly closed the booklet again and stuffed the paper into her jacket pocket. She had been in the strange room for far too long without permission and didn't know what to say if she was caught here.


	8. Chapter 7

"I can't believe that bitch dared to do that", you could hear Lizzie talking about how pissed she was at that moment. But who could blame her in that situation? After all, it wasn't every day a milkshake was dumped on you.   
"I tell you, I would have loved to give her a new haircut with a little bit of fire", growled Josie's twin: "After all, it worked out perfectly for Penelope."  
"Lizzie, you know there's nothing we can do anyway", said Josie herself, who was sitting next to her sister on one of the sofas in the lounge.

However, she could understand her sister quite well. Dana and Lizzie were downright declared enemies after all. Besides, she hadn't been any better herself when she had set her ex's hair on fire out of anger. However, she had to stop Lizzie from doing something stupid and using magic against a human, which would not only hurt someone but also betray the supernatural world.

"That doesn't stop me from taking revenge on her in a human way", it came back from her, but Josie knew she had managed to slow Lizzie down a bit. Josie sighed as she ran the brush she was holding through Lizzie's blonde hair once more, hoping to somehow get rid of the milkshake residue that was still stuck in it.

"Lizzie, please think of Dad", Josie replied a little rebuked since her father had enough to do lately and would certainly not be happy if they started another fight with one of the students from Mystic Falls High. After all, this had happened enough lately and she didn't want to get punished again. That wouldn't make it any better.

"I'll try", Lizzie returned and leaned her head slightly against me: "But I can't promise anything."  
"Thanks, Lizzie", returned the dark-haired one, as there was already more than she'd expected. After all, her sister was more prone to emotional outbursts than she was and quite stubborn, so even such an answer from her was a good thing. But not only that. It also reassured Josie that she was still able to calm Lizzie and protect her from outbursts. After all, her mother had hardly been around lately and therefore could not do all the techniques she had taught Lizzie. So Josie and the father of the twins were usually there for her in such moments. However, he was now more and busier, so they were losing more and more of his attention. Because even if it might sound selfish, they both missed having their father with them and helping them with their problems. But now his priority seemed to be jumping into the car with Hope to do something and miss the football games of his school.

"Oh God, Hope is back", Lizzie tore her out of her thoughts in an unnerved tone, causing her to lift her head and look in the exact direction her sister was looking. This made her see the brunette Tribrid, who also came into the lounge at that very moment.

Josie instinctively followed her with her gaze as she continued to comb her sister's hair. But she didn't notice anything of this herself and instead went to one of the empty tables and let herself sink onto one of the chairs. I wonder when she would notice that Josie had taken the spell? The thought that she had stolen it theoretically made an unpleasant feeling inside her apparent. After all, she wasn't the kind of person who normally did this. However, she hoped Hope would give herself away when she realized the spell was missing. Then she could confront the Mikaelson daughter and find out with complete certainty if she was to blame for her dreams or not. If she was honest, she only partly hoped for this result. Because if she was, Josie would have been wrong about her. Because even if the twins didn't get along well with Hope, she wouldn't have been the first one she thought could do something like this. But maybe this time she was just wrong or maybe Hope was just a damn good actress. And if she was, I'm sure it would become apparent in the next few days.

"I can't stand her", Lizzie said in a dissatisfied tone: "I hope she won't come to that party in the woods we're going to tomorrow. Then I'll get too much."   
An astonished look appeared on Josie's face and her forehead wrinkled. A party in the woods that she went to with Lizzie? Since she hadn't known about it herself, Lizzie had probably decided to do it for herself and automatically included Josie. But probably it wasn't a bad idea, because she could keep an eye on her sister and maybe an evening with friends would finally take her mind off things.


	9. Chapter 8

The sun had long since disappeared behind the treetops of the fir trees and in the meantime, the crescent had taken its place. Some branches cracked under Josie's shoes as she walked along the forest path with her sister and a group of other students. They were on their way to the party from which Lizzie had insisted that her sister come along. And indeed, Josie had no regrets. At least not yet. At least it brought a little variety to their daily lives.

As they were only a few steps away from the place where the Salvatore Boarding School students were having their parties in the forest, the light was already shining through the trees to her eyes. They had already lit the campfire, which told her that they were quite late.

Silently they took a few more steps and then arrived at the clearing, which was already filled with their classmates talking, laughing and drinking. Interested, Josie let her eyes wander and saw a colorful mixture of witches, vampires, werewolves and everything in between. On evenings like these, the usual rivalry seemed to suddenly disappear and most of them felt a sense of harmony.

"There's Rafael over there", it came from Lizzie, who had stopped next to her and turned her gaze in a certain direction. Josie glanced briefly at her sister and then followed her gaze, which also made her look at the boy a lot. He was, as far as she could tell, surrounded by a group of werewolves, but she thought she could see Landon's black curls between them.   
"I should go and talk to him", said Lizzie and her typical flirtatious smile appeared on her lips. Josie opened her mouth slightly, trying to stop her, but before she could say anything, the blonde had already started moving and had disappeared from her reach.

Sighing, Josie sat herself down towards the juice jug where she could get a drink. There she picked up one of the red plastic cups and filled it with the drink. As she sipped her drink, her gaze wandered again to Lizzie, who was talking to Rafael. However, behind the self-confident façade of her twin, she noticed that she was nervous inside. This was exactly what she always noticed when she came near Rafael. I think she had her eye on the new werewolf. However, Lizzie did not always do well when it came to a boy she honestly liked. Maybe Josie should come in and support her.

But before she could think about it and make a decision, she discovered someone out of the corner of her eye who attracted her attention even more than Lizzie. It was Hope who had also just entered the clearing and let her gaze wander as if she was looking for something. Instinctively, Josie lowered her gaze. Surely, she or he would not be the person she seemed to be looking for. After all, they didn't have anything to do with each other.

Despite her lowered gaze, she continued to watch Hope from the corner of her eye. After a few seconds, the searching gaze of the Tribridin disappeared and she started moving. However, contrary to her expectations, she did not approach Rafael and Landon, but disappeared in the crowd and thus completely out of her field of vision.

Instinctively, one of Josie's eyebrows rose. Although she couldn't explain it, she felt the urge to follow her to see what she was up to. Maybe she just wanted to go to the party and have fun just like Josie herself. However, this would be more than just untypical for her as she was otherwise rather a loner.

Without thinking much about whether it was a good decision or not, Josie squashed the cup in her hand and threw it away. Then she pushed herself off the tree against which she had leaned. The brunette moved slowly as she tried to find Hope among the other students. Maybe she was stupid to follow her. Just as stupid as it had been to take the spell out of the book she was supposed to get for her father. But if she had already agreed to make these stupid decisions, she would not back down now. She also planned to watch Hope more from now on and this was the perfect moment.

She also started to move between the other people while she tried to let her eyes wander over the heads of the others. Again and again, she noticed the girl, after she was out of the search, but then she lost her again. However, she thought she could see that the werewolf was moving away from the clearing and heading for the Lockwood Estate. But what could she want there? After all, there was nothing more on the property than the empty mansion and the old cellar of the family who had lived there before, which was somewhere below them.

"Josie?", there was a voice behind the brunette that made her stop for a moment. However, she did not turn around, since she knew who it was as well. Hardly a second later the person to whom the voice belonged also appeared in her field of vision.   
"What do you want from me, Penelope?", she asked her ex-girlfriend and looked at her with a firm look. As a result, she noticed an expression on the other girl's face that gave her a firm sting. "Um", she stroked her dark hair with one hand, almost a little nervously behind her ear: "I've been thinking, Jojo. Could we maybe talk for a minute?"   
Though it surprised Josie at what Penelope was saying and how she was acting, she couldn't devote herself to it at that moment. Instead, she tried not to lose sight of Hope.   
"Sure, say what you have to say", she said and looked at Penelope for a moment, but she didn't seem to be satisfied with this answer.   
"I meant in private", she looked at Josie with a pleading look. But she only shook her head: "I don't have time for this right now."

Her counterpart opened her mouth as if she had something to say, but Josie just pushed herself past her.   
"I'm sorry", she mumbled to her, but didn't stop, she just moved again. This time, however, she ran noticeably faster as she saw Hope disappear between the trees again at that very moment.


	10. Chapter 9

Josie kept her gaze fixed on Hope as she moved between her fellow players towards the forest. At exactly this moment, the Tribridin disappeared just at this very moment, namely just now. However, Josie still felt Penelope's look in her back. But she just couldn't talk to her right now and if she was honest, she wasn't sure if she wanted to hear what she had to say. Penelope had always been good at hurting Josie. Even after they were separated.

One last time she had a look over her shoulder back at the party group to make sure Lizzie was still with the boys. After all, I was determined to keep an eye on her today. Suddenly her priorities had shifted.

Without further hesitation, she started moving again and stepped between the trees. Hope had almost disappeared from her field of vision by now, so Josie started to move faster. But she made sure not to be too loud. After all, Hope did not have to notice her immediately. Instead, she wanted to sneak up on her and watch her, maybe find out what she was up to. She couldn't be sure that Hope came here to practice dark magic. But why else would she move to the Lockwood cellar where she was undisturbed?

If she was completely honest with herself, she wasn't so sure that she wanted Hope to be the one to blame for her dreams. Because although she would finally have her culprit, she didn't want her role to be that one. Even though the twins didn't get along with the Mikaelson daughter, Hope didn't seem like someone who would do something like that to someone else. Besides, she wouldn't want that for her father either. For although she was often jealous of how much time Hope spent with her father, she didn't want to believe that he was so wrong about the student. And Josie didn't want to be wrong about Hope either.

As best she could, Josie tried to focus her attention on the current events again because Hope had suddenly stopped. But not at any part of the forest, but right in front of the cellar entrance. So she hadn't been so wrong in her assumption after all. She instinctively took a few more steps, but then came to a halt behind a tree. What could she want in this place? After all, there was no full moon tonight. But even then it wouldn't make sense. After all, there were cellars like this below the Salvatore School, where the werewolves locked themselves in during the full moon. Besides, thanks to her tribrid existence, Hope could control her transformation anyway.

She watched as Hope opened the entrance to the vault and then slowly descended the stairs without looking back. She probably didn't expect anyone to follow her. Nearly all of her classmates were at the party and Hope was quite a loner, so there were probably not that many people who had a reason to follow her. Except maybe Landon or Rafael, with whom she got along quite well. However, the two boys were still talking to Lizzie at the moment, which is why they will not follow her at this moment.

As soon as the young Mikaelson disappeared for a few seconds, Josie also released herself from her hiding place. She moved purposefully toward the entrance on the floor where Hope had just disappeared while her heartbeat accelerated slightly. The crescent moon glowing in the sky shone into the vault and flooded the stairs with its white light. As quietly as she could, she climbed down the stairs in the hope that the other girl would not immediately spot her. So she stopped in the shadows and watched Hope.

She had let herself sink to her knees and put the notebook that Josie was supposed to get today in front of her. Since her back was turned to her, Josie couldn't see her face but heard her flipping through the book. In front of her on the floor, she thought she recognized a pentagram which seemed to be drawn on the floor with white chalk. But it did not give the impression that it had just been drawn, but that it had been there for some time. So had she been here before?

But before she could think about it any further, she heard Hope's voice both surprised and angry: "Damn."   
She, too, now realized the spell was missing. Josie pondered for a moment before pulling out the spell she was carrying and stepping out of the shadows: "Looking for this?"   
Hope drove around, staring at Josie with a bewildered look before her eyes fell on the note in her hand. The girl's lips parted, but before she could say anything about it, Josie cut off her word and asked the question, which was written on Hope's face: "Yes, that's the spell you were looking for."

"Wh-where'd you get that?", she took a step towards Josie, who instinctively took a step back.   
"It doesn't matter now", she skillfully escaped her question: "More importantly, you are practicing black magic."   
Josie looked at her with a searching look, and for a few seconds, both girls just looked at each other. In her blue eyes, however, after a few seconds, she recognized an expression that took the hardness out of her gaze and made sure that her tense bones slowly relaxed.

"Why do you care? That's my business", Hope broke the silence after a few seconds but did not turn her gaze away from the girl who was standing only a few centimeters away from her. For a moment Josie thought. Was she perhaps confronting the wrong person? It didn't make much sense for her to ask that question if she was the one behind it. Or maybe she was just trying to get Josie to think that way.   
"We are not allowed to use black magic", she threw in, but then took a deep breath and told her the real reason why I had followed her: "Besides, someone is terrorizing me with nightmares at the moment and I think it is connected with black magic. And then I find this when I'm supposed to get your stuff from dad's office. It's a little conspicuous, isn't it?"

Hope's eyebrows widened and she stared at Josie like she was trying to figure out if Josie was telling the truth. Then after a few seconds, however, she shook her head: "I didn't have anything to do with this."   
Josie's look told her that she didn't necessarily believe her, so she added something else: "Really. What reason could I have for adding that?"   
Now Josie was the one who couldn't answer that right away.   
"Do you want me to prove it to you?", Hope offered and reached out her hand with a defiant look. Josie's brow furrowed as she considered the offer. This was probably the way she would finally get to the truth and it was worth a try.   
"And how are you going to do that?", Josie asked, however, before she even thought of issuing the spell she was holding in her hands.   
"I'll tell you what the spell is for and then I could help you find out if there's black magic behind your dreams", she explained and took a step towards Josie while her eyes fell again on the spell in her hand: "And if you still want my help, I'll help you find out who's behind it, too. Because it's not me."

It didn't sound like a bad offer and if Hope knew a way to be sure it was black magic, she had no other choice. So a light sigh and then gave in. Giving in, she put the paper in her outstretched hand and said: "Well, tell me about it."   
Hope sighed as well and looked at the spell she was holding in her hand again. She took a short breath before she started to unfold the paper: "This is black magic here. You are right about that. But the spell isn't for what you think it is."   
She paused for a moment before continuing: "It's a spell that allows me to speak to the dead."

Josie tilted her head slightly and just looked at Hope. She hadn't counted on this. But suddenly the pentagram made sense. Just like the skull she had seen on the paper.   
"You - ", Josie started, but Hope cut off the word as she turned slightly away from her: "Yes, I use black magic to talk to my parents. Judge me if you wish."

Josie lowered her eyes slightly to the floor while Hope picked up her book from the floor.   
"I'm not", she replied in a softer tone: "I wouldn't do it any other way."   
With this, she made Hope turn back to her and look at her with a questioning, yet surprised look: "Really?"   
Josie replied with a nod, feeling a gentle smile on her lips. Perhaps they were more alike than either of them realized.


	11. Chapter 10

"Are you sure this is a good idea?", Josie whispered as Hope pushed open the door to the Salvatore Boarding School and stepped into the hallway.   
"Yes, I am", the Mikaelson replied in a confident tone, looking up and down the school hallway,: "This is the best time to do this."   
"I didn't know there was a good moment to break into my father's office", Josie threw in and started moving again with Hope when she seemed sure there was no one around.

"Your dad told me earlier that he uses evenings like this when we leave school to drive into town and have time to himself", Hope told Josie as the girls walked together in the direction of Doctor Saltzman's office. At the ,words of the others, she could not help but sigh with a slight sigh. It was once again clear that he told Hope more than he told his daughters. But this reaction to her words did not seem to have escaped her companion either.

"What?", Hope asked her with raised eyebrows.   
"Never mind", Josie immediately dodged her question. She didn't feel like talking about it right now and it wasn't the right time anyway. After all, they were here because of Josie's problem and Hope's possible solution to it and not to settle some things that always seemed to stand between them. At least not at this moment.

Meanwhile, they had arrived at Alaric's office and both of them came to a halt.   
"If you say so", Hope replied and Josie was glad that for the time being she just let it rest. The Mikaelson put a hand on the door handle and tried to open the door. However, she was unable to pull on it or even get it open. With a furrowed forehead, she turned back to Josie and looked at her and asked: "Since when has Doctor Saltzman sealed his office with a barrier spell?"   
This also surprised Josie, since she hadn't been aware that her father was doing such a thing.   
"I don't know", she replied and stepped next to Hope, also trying to open the door: "Do you know if he has any important things in there?"

A thoughtful look appeared on Hope's face as if she was thinking about the things her father kept in the room. Then she shook her head, though: "Not that I know of. But it wouldn't be the first time he didn't tell us something like that."   
Josie had to agree with her there. For long enough, Alaric had kept the existence of the artifacts from them.

"Can you lift the barrier spell?", Hope asked, stepping aside to make room for the others. Josie hesitated, though. At the thought that they just broke into her father's office to look for something she didn't even know what it was, everything contracted inside her. But what could she do? But if Hope knew a way to help her find out who was causing her dreams, she had little choice.

"Yes, I can", she nodded, however, and took a step closer to the door. Then she reached out and held her hand against the hard wood. For a moment she looked over her shoulder to make sure that someone wouldn't come and catch her at any moment. Then she turned her gaze forward again and closed her eyes. Her palm began to glow slightly red, while she felt the magic of the barrier spell disappear more and more and instead was absorbed by her body, filling her with a feeling of energy.

After a few seconds, she could feel under her fingers that all magic had disappeared and let her hand sink. Then she opened her eyes again, but couldn't help but risk a look at Hope from the corner of her eye. She looked at Josie with an attentive expression on her face as if she had never seen her use her powers before. However, that might not have been so impossible considering how little time they usually spent together.

"Did it work?", Hope asked after a few seconds when Josie turned to her. Josie didn't answer immediately, but simply pushed the two swing doors open demonstratively: "What does it look like?"   
A satisfied smile appeared on Hope's lips and she followed Josie, who had already entered the room. As soon as they both entered the room, the Saltzman twin closed the door behind them again. Not everyone had to see that they had gained access to the room.

"So, why are we here?", she crossed her arms in front of her chest and watched Hope, who immediately started walking through the office, looking for her. She had not yet told her what they were doing here. Only that she should have a little trust in her and would see it soon enough.   
"I'm looking for a magical artifact that your father keeps here as far as I know", Hope explained to her and started looking in a drawer.   
"And what exactly?", she asked, as she thought it would be more effective if they both searched at the same time, instead of just standing there waiting for Hope to find it.   
"A candle", Hope explained as she closed the drawer and opened another.   
"A candle?!", Josie replied with a surprised look. It didn't sound like a powerful magical artifact, but more like a nice table light.   
"It's better than it sounds", Hope assured her, who still didn't seem to have found it.

Now Josie also began to let her gaze wander through the room. There was no candle on the desk or the windowsill, so she focused instead on the many shelves.   
"Hope", she gently pushed the other girl to the side to get her attention before she began to move towards one of the lower shelves next to the door.   
"What is - ?", Hope started, but then she saw what Josie saw and stopped.

Josie stopped in front of the shelf and reached out for the candle that was standing there.   
"Is that her?", she glanced over her shoulder at Hope, who immediately began to nod in response. A feeling of relief spread through her. This greatly simplified the whole situation. She quickly took the candle from her seat. To her amazement, it was heavier and bigger than she had expected, but she did not let it bother her and went back to Hope.   
"Well, can we leave now?", she asked immediately, as she couldn't wait to leave the room again. One last time Hope let her gaze wander, but then nodded: "Yes, we can."

Josie took a deep breath and already took a few steps toward the door when she heard Hope's voice behind her again: "Wait, Josie."   
"What - ?", she asked a question while standing still, but felt Hope's hand, which wrapped itself around her arm and pulled her with it.   
"Someone's coming", she whispered curtly as she pulled Josie into a corner of the room with her. A surprised expression appeared on Josie's face but she reacted just as quickly as Hope and followed her without hesitation.

Hope's reaction was not exactly late, for barely a few seconds later the doors swung open again and someone entered the room. Fortunately, Hope had dragged them into the exact area where the door and the shadow covered them. But they were not denied the view of the person who had entered the room and so they both saw Alaric. With a surprised look, Josie looked at Hope who was surprisingly close to her at that moment. Their upper bodies pressed slightly together due to the lack of space and their faces were only a few centimeters apart. Josie's expression had to say 'You told me he was gone' as Hope looked at her perplexed and shrugged her shoulders as if to say that she had no idea what he was doing here now.

Both girls remained silent while Alaric began to search around in the pile of paper that was on his desk. Josie didn't move an inch but slowly felt the candle that was holding her getting heavy and the thought was already building up inside her that she shouldn't drop the object under any circumstances. As if Hope knew what she was thinking about, she moved her hands a little bit and held the candle to support Josie. A small, grateful smile appeared on Josie's lips and she looked back at Hope's face. She also smiled slightly as she seemed to look at Josie. She couldn't explain it but for some reason, Hope's presence calmed her and distracted her from the thought that her father might discover her here at any moment.

After a few seconds, which had felt like minutes for Josie though, she heard her father move again - presumably, he had found whatever it was he was looking for - and walk towards the door again. Then the door closed again and Alaric had disappeared. Josie took a deep breath, relieved that her father hadn't discovered her. For a few moments, both girls remained where they stood, barely a few inches apart.

But then Josie handed the candle to Hope and took a step from the other way: "Here, we'd better go. We don't want Dad to come back and find us here after all."   
For some reason, she scratched the back of her head in embarrassment and then walked towards the door.   
"Um, sure, I guess you're right", Hope agreed with her as she followed her.

As soon as the door behind them fell shut, Josie looked at Hope again: "So, what exactly are you going to do with this thing?"   
"It's best if we go up first. Then I'll explain it to you", Hope put her off again, which this time only aroused Josie's curiosity.


	12. Chapter 11

"Where are you going?", Hope's voice sounded behind Josie as she made her way to her room. She stoppe and turned to her with a furrowed brow: "To my room."   
She had thought they were going to go to her room so Hope could explain what exactly her plan was.   
"And you think that's a good idea?", she asked with a critical expression: "Because I honestly don't feel like dealing with Lizzie when she gets back and wants to know what we're doing."   
Josie instinctively folded her arms across her chest. She didn't like it when people talked badly about her twin.   
"Don't talk about her that way", she said with a little emphasis. Hope shrugged: "I'm just saying. I don't feel like explaining it to her."   
Hope was right about that. Even Josie wasn't keen on explaining the situation to her sister. Lizzie wouldn't be happy about her sister working with Hope or understanding Josie's problems.   
"You haven't even told her what's going on, have you?", Hope asked her with a critical look, but her voice took on a gentle tone.   
"What? Yes, of course", Josie said without thinking about it for long, although it was not at all true.

"Well", she cleared her throat slightly: "Where shall we go if not to my room?"   
"Mine", Hope replied and stepped to a door beside her. She opened it with one hand and then entered. Josie hesitated briefly, but then followed her. She was about to ask why her room was better suited for this purpose, but when she looked into the room, she remembered that Hope didn't have a roommate.

Hope closed the door behind Josie and put the candle on her bed, on which she then let herself fall. Josie did the same and sat down too. She looked at Hope for a moment, but then lowered her gaze to the object in front of her. Only now she noticed that it was not completely white but thought she could see that in some places black odd lines seemed to run through it like veins.

"So what exactly is this thing supposed to do", she asked after a few seconds, during which she had observed the object partly curiously and partly suspiciously. Up to now she still didn't understand how a candle should help her with her problem.   
"How are you going to prove to me that you have nothing to do with this? After all, it is only a candle and nothing more", they expressed their doubts.   
"It's an artifact that can show if someone is using black magic on you", Hope explained while she lightly turned the candle in her fingers: "It works even when you're sleeping. That way you can make sure that someone is trying to attack you."   
"Do you think I'm just imagining all this?", Josie asked and her tone revealed that she was a little hurt. She didn't need help from someone who didn't even believe her.

"No, of course not", Hope instinctively reached out for Josie and gently grapped her hand. She couldn't quite explain why she did it, but for a moment she thought she sensed some kind of connection between them that she somehow didn't want to break and was afraid she might lose Josie's trust.   
"But you said that you had only suspected it so far and weren't sure", she added to the explanation: "Besides, she also protects you from the magic. Then you can finally sleep well again."   
"Oh", she lowered her eyes to her still crossed fingers: "I did not know that."   
"It's okay", Hope reassured her immediately: "There was no way you could have known."

"But then how can you tell if someone is trying to attack me with black magic?", she asked further.   
"The flame will change color when it happends and the candle will turn more and more black with in time. Depending on how long the person tries to affect you with black magic and how strong it is", Hope explained and thought about letting go of Josie's hand. It felt good, though. Even Josie didn't seem to want to change the current situation when she asked: "But when I sleep, I won't notice anything."   
"I know", Hope nodded. She had already thought about that.   
"I could stay with you and watch out", she shrugged, but then added: "After all, I promised to help you and if I'm with you when you're attacked again, I can't be the person who causes your bad dreams."

That made sense and somehow Josie was reassured by the thought of someone watching out for her. After all, she had been alone with her problem before and she had to admit that it was starting to bother her. But the fact that Hope knew about it relieved her of part of her burden. So she nodded: "All right, let's do it."


	13. Chapter 12

When there was a knock at her room door, Hope let her hairbrush sink and turned away from the mirror to have a look over her shoulder.   
"Come in", she said. Josie entered the room.   
"Hey, are you ready?", Hope asked as she glanced over to her.   
"Yes, I am", Josie nodded and closed the door behind her. She had put on pajamas and was getting ready for bed.

For a moment she had thought about leaving a message for Lizzie, with whom she had shared a room for ages, so she knew where she was and wouldn't worry. However, she hadn't known how to explain where she was, so she decided against it. Besides, the chances that her twin sister would notice her absence were not very high. After all, she was mostly busy with her problems.

"What about you?", Josie walked up to Hope's bed and sank onto it. They had decided that the easiest thing to do was to have Josie stay in Hopes room with her for the night. After all, Hope had her room to herself and it would be easier to carry out their plan without any problems.

"Yes, me too", Hope nodded and placed her brush with the squiggled 'M', which was artfully carved into the wood, on her dresser. Then she came over to Josie and sat down next to her. They had put the candle on her bedside table so it was easy for her to keep an eye on her all the time.   
"So you are already for this?", Hope gave it a trial run to make sure Josie was sure she wanted to do this. After all, it had something to do with trusting Hope. However, even after Hope had explained what she was going to do, the twin hadn't given the impression that this was something she wouldn't want to do. Besides, Josie didn't seem like the kind of person who would just back down.   
"I guess so", she said reluctantly, but nodded. Tthis was the best option she had left and seemed comparatively harmless. At least, if you could call something that had to do with black magic harmless.

"Good, then we can start", Hope suggested and sat down on the edge of the bed to reach for the candle that was on the small table next to her. She briefly ran her hand over the wick and barely a second a flame ignited under her palm. It glowed in its usual color and cast shadows into the room.   
"So, again, to make sure I understood correctly", it came from Josie behind her: "Right now, this is the normal state of affairs, so to speak, and if it changes color, it means that someone is trying to use black magic on me."   
"Right", Hope nodded and put the magic artifact back on the nightstand before turning back to Josie.

Hope pushed her blanket aside and slipped under it before lifting it again and looking at Josie expectantly. A small smile appeared on Josie's lips and the girl moved closer to Hope to cover herself as well.

For a few seconds, they both remained silent and just looked at the ceiling before Hope turned her head slightly to the side.   
"Can I ask you something?", Hope asked in a somewhat muffled voice. Josie then did the same and changed her lying position to be able to turn towards her better.   
"What is it?", she asked slightly hesitantly, as she could not imagine what exactly Hope would want to know.   
"Earlier, when you caught me trying to practice black magic and I told you why exactly I was doing it, you said that you could understand and that you would not judge me for it. How exactly did you mean that?", Hope bit her lip lightly.

Josie swallowed lightly and thought about how to explain it: "I think I would just do the same thing if I were in your place. I never met my biological mother myself and I have Caroline, who has been a mother to me since I was born. But if it had been different and I had grown up with her before she died, I don't know if I wouldn't have tried everything to see her, at least for a few moments."

Her words struck a chord with her heart. For although she had never had this longing for her biological mother before, the arrival of one of the monsters had strengthened her desire to spend time with her. On her birthday, Jo Laughlin had suddenly returned miraculously and had upset not only her father but also Josie herself. Though she knew she had been just a zombie sent to retrieve one of the three artifacts needed to open Malivore, she had somehow hoped for more. Meeting her mother and seeing how much they shared in common had strengthened her desire to spend more time with her.

"What's wrong?", apparently Josie could see what she was thinking about because Hope's voice had taken on a softer tone.   
"My mother was recently brought back as one of the Malivore monsters and now somehow I can't stop thinking about her", she explained easily: "This was the first time I learned anything about Mom's family. Dad refuses to talk to us about it."   
She felt her heart getting heavy in her chest and a hard lump forming in her throat as she talked about it.

Under the covers, Hope hesitantly reached for Josie's hand when she realized that Josie was falling back into the painful part of her thoughts at that moment.   
"I know how you feel", Hope replied cautiously: "It seems we are more alike than we might have thought."   
For a few seconds, Josie just looked at her silently before she found her voice again and nodded: "Is that why you are like this?"   
"Like what?", Hope frowned in a questioning expression.   
"A loner", Josie told her. Hope spent most of her time with Alaric, hunting Malivore monsters with him, instead of dealing with the normal problems of a teenager.

Hope lowered her eyes for a few seconds to her hand crossed with Josie's before she began to speak slowly: "People who are important to me tend to die for me. And I just couldn't have that if this happened any more often."   
"But you've put me behind your protective walls", Josie gently reminded her: "Why?"   
"I don't know", Hope shrugged slightly.   
"But I'm glad you did", Josie said without thinking about it. She had begun to feel comfortable and trust in Hope's company without being able to explain what the reason was.   
"Me too", the tribrid agreed with her and as she spoke, a small smile appeared on her lips.

She slowly raised her eyes again to be able to see Josie's face again. When she noticed that her eyes had closed and heard how calm her breath was, her smile grew bigger and she sighed slightly. For a few seconds, she just watched her counterpart sleeping before lying down so that she could see Josie and the candle standing to her right equally. When she saw the glowing flame and its color, however, her breath stopped for a moment. The candle no longer burned in a bright orange but had suddenly turned blood-red and the black lines that ran through the inside of the candle became more distinct. Instinctively, Hope's grip on Josie's hand increased and she turned her eyes to the side to make sure that the girl who was sleeping next to her was all right. There, however, she only saw a completely calmly sleeping Josie who seemed to be unaware of it. She breathed easily. It worked as Hope had imagined.


	14. Chapter 13

The morning sunlight gently tickled Josie's nose as she slowly woke up. Even before she opened her eyes, she already felt that something was missing. A warmth that she felt all night long in her subconscious and a feeling of security. But both had now disappeared. In search of it, she opened her eyes and turned her head to the side. To where Hope had lain before. But this place was empty now. Only the crumpled sheet and the blanket that had been pushed back revealed that someone else had been here before

Josie yawned softly and stared into the room for a few moments before her eyes moved to the alarm clock on Hope's desk and she pushed the blanket aside as it was already time for breakfast. Hopefully, Lizzie had already disappeared from their shared room. If her sister saw her sneaking in, she would certainly want to know why she hadn't slept here and where she had been all night. And if she was honest, she wasn't about to explain it to her.

So she pushed out of bed and headed for the door. Probably most of her classmates were already in the dining room or on their way there. She stuck her head out and took a look at the hallway, which fortunately was empty, and then slipped out of the room. She took a few steps across the hallway until she came to a halt at her door. Before she opened it, however, she hesitated for a moment and thought about putting an ear to the door to eavesdrop on Lizzie who was inside. After a few seconds of thinking, however, she found the idea feeble-minded. She would much rather look for Hope and ask her if anything had happened last night. Now she couldn't hesitate because of Lizzie and maybe lose her chance to catch Hope at breakfast.

So she opened the door and just stepped into the room. She quickly let her eyes wander and noticed that Lizzie was still sleeping peacefully in the bed. Relieved, she breathed a sigh of relief and scurried to her dresser where her clothes were. She quickly pulled out a top, a blue checkered skirt and a pair of stockings and then disappeared into the bathroom, which was directly connected to the room. Before she entered the bathroom, however, she looked over her shoulder at Lizzie to make sure she was still asleep. When she was, she took another breath and then disappeared into the bathroom.

-

Josie pushed past some of her classmates as she made her way to the dining room. When she had passed through the large doors, she reached the room where three long tables had their place. Each of them belonged to one of the three species most commonly represented at the school.

Luckily, Josie had noticed Hope often enough during dinner to know that she usually sat at the witches' table. Although Hope was a tribrid, they sat at each of the tables and spent time with each member of the three species. For some reason, however, she seemed to feel the strongest connection to the witches, as she almost only spent time with them when she was once in search of the company.

She started to move and walk towards the table while she kept looking for Hope. After a few meters, she found her and discovered her at the end of the long table. She looked down and poked around in her omelet with a fork.

For a moment Josie watched her as she walked towards her, but said nothing to her. Instead, she simply lowered herself onto one of the free chairs next to Hope and leaned her elbows lightly on the tabletop: "What did your food do to you to make it so full of holes?"   
"Hmm, what?", Hope asked with a surprised look. But when she noticed Josie beside her, her face brightened and she dropped her fork: "Sorry, Josie, I was thinking about something." "Never mind" , replied the young witch, then asked with obvious curiosity in her voice: "What were you thinking about?"   
"Oh, nothing important", Hope simply shook her head and then turned to a new subject: "Did you sleep well?"

Josie thought for a moment but then nodded. She had indeed slept unusually well the previous night and felt surprisingly rested that morning. So it seemed that Hope's plan had worked.   
"I did", a little smile appeared on her lips, while relief spread through her.   
"So your plan worked", she said.   
"As far as I could see, everything went according to my plan", Hope replied nodding and she smiled slightly.

Josie leaned back in her chair and took a breath. This was good news for a change. For a moment she closed her eyes.   
"However, there is something I should probably tell you," it came from Hope. With that she made Josie open her eyes again and look at her with a wrinkled forehead. Something in Hope's tone told her that no good news would follow.

Hope looked around briefly and lowered her voice slightly as she leaned slightly over to Josie: "The flame has changed color, so you fell asleep."   
"What?" it took Josie out a little louder than she wanted and made some of the people around her look over to them. She hadn't counted on this. After all, she had slept well and hadn't noticed a thing. But Hope would certainly not have fallen for it. She had underestimated the abilities of the magic artifact and the whole thing had worked better.

For a moment they both remained silent before people looked away from them again. Then Hope continued her conversation quietly: "I noticed it after you fell asleep. It lasted about an hour before the person gave up and the flame returned to its normal state."   
It took Josie a moment to get used to the idea. Although she had been convinced before that someone was behind it, but now to have final certainty, it killed her for a moment.   
"But at least that shows us that it worked," Hope added when she noticed Josie's shocked expression and reached out for Josie's: "And the main thing is that you're okay."

Slowly Josie nodded. Hope was right, but the thought that someone was after her for some reason gave it a bitter taste.   
"We'll find out who's behind this. Don't worry," Hope said in a calm tone of voice, gently squeezing her hand. Josie opened her mouth to respond but was interrupted when Lizzie's voice sounded behind her: "Josie."

Automatically, the person addressed turned in the direction the voice came from and saw her sister there. She had her eyes slightly narrowed and looked at Hope and her with an irritated expression.   
"Are you coming?" she asked loudly and wanted to wave her over. Josie frowned slightly but then knew what her sister wanted her to do. A light resigned sigh she could not help but stifle as she freed her hand from Hopes.   
"I'd better go over to Lizzie," she told Hope with an apologetic expression on her face.   
"You could just stay here," Hope replied and her face took on a pleading expression. Josie glanced briefly at Lizzie, who was still standing there waiting for her before turning back to Hope: "I'm sorry, but I can't do that. I don't want her to be mad at me."   
But if she was honest, she also felt the need to sit with Hope. She didn't want to risk a fight with Lizzie. Especially since her twin sister wasn't too happy with the tribrid.

For a few seconds Hope was silent, but then nodded: "Yes, I understand."   
"Thank you", with these words and a grateful but at the same time apologetic smile, she rose from her chair. But before she could move towards her sister, Hope stopped her once more: "Josie?"   
"Yes?" and immediately she stopped and turned to face her, questioning her.   
"Meet me by the lake after class," Hope asked while shoving a piece of her omelet in her mouth. In a questioning expression on her face, she tilted her head slightly:"Why?"   
Hope, however, only shrugged her shoulders and a small mysterious smile appeared on her lips: "You will only know when you get there."


	15. Chapter 14

With a sigh, Josie walked between the tables to walk towards her sister. Meanwhile, she had found herself a place at the witches' table but had left a chair for her twin sister next to her.   
"Hey, Lizzie", the brunette greeted her slightly as she lowered herself onto the empty chair. "Hey", she replied, but Josie knew her well enough to hear in her voice that something was bothering her. And Josie suspected to know what it was, too.

Lizzie had never gotten along very well with Hope before and seemed to hold a grudge against her for some reason. There was a time when Josie had known him once, but now, after all those years of it, she had already forgotten him. Slowly it just didn't make sense anymore how the two behaved towards each other. It would be so much easier if the two of them would finally stand above whatever had happened and get along with each other. This would also make Josie's life a lot easier because then she wouldn't have to sit between the chairs all the time anymore and wouldn't have to try to please everybody.

"What's going on?", Josie just asked straight out. Slowly she had enough of doing everything she could to make Lizzie feel good and put her own needs and wishes aside. To which Lizzie replied with a rolling eye: "What reason do you have to hang out with Dad's favorite?"   
Josie swallowed hard and avoided her gaze. How could she possibly explain that now? Lizzie hadn't noticed her sister's absence last night, which was good news. Unfortunately, she had seen Josie and Hope together and now Josie had to make an excuse.

"None at all", she said, simply shaking her head: "I just had a quick chat with her. That was it. That's it, so just let it go."   
While she was talking, her eyes had lowered to the tabletop, but Lizzie's gaze was still able to feel right on top of her. She knew her well enough to know how Lizzie was looking at her with her eyes slightly narrowed and her lips pressed tightly together, creating a thin line.

However, her sister managed to surprise her with the answer she gave: "All right."   
Not used to seeing her sister give way so easily, Josie raised her eyes again. However, she managed to suppress the astonishment on her face.   
"Then let's talk about something else", she asked: "If we keep talking about Hope, I'll have another crisis."

Josie was more than happy with that. After all, she couldn't tell Lizzie why she was spending time with Hope anyway and didn't want to. If she was honest, she liked that nobody knew she was secretly seeing the tribrid. Because somehow a bond had developed between them and as long as Lizzie didn't know about it, she couldn't break it.

"Well, what do you want to talk about?", Josie asked, simply agreeing.   
"Miss Mystic Falls", Lizzie suggested: "The pageant that's here next week."   
Immediately, her expression changed. A smile crept upon her lips and her eyes began to sparkle slightly.

The contest! She almost forgot about it. Miss Mystic Falls was a small-town pageant run by a school each year. And this year, it was hosted by the Salvatore boarding school. Lizzie had been talking about entering since she was little, and this year She had planned to take part and persuaded Josie to sign up as well so that she later stumbled and eliminated her competition. In the meantime, she regretted that she had been persuaded to enter. After all, this had never been Josie's thing before and in the end, she would lose anyway so that her sister would win. Unfortunately, it was already too late to call it off. After all, Lizzie didn't seem to be in a good mood anyway and when it came to the competition, she didn't understand fun. Besides, the blonde was used to her sister always helping her and if she didn't do it now, she might notice that something was wrong.


End file.
